Section 7 AAC 100.138 - Exempt resources(a) The department will not consider exempt resources in determining eligibility for Family Medicaid benefits. A resource is exempt if it is determined to be wholly or partially exempt under this section or 7 AAC 100.140.(b) The physical structure that serves as the applicant's or recipient's residence, and the single legally described piece of real property upon which that structure is situated, are an exempt resource.(c) A business property is an exempt resource if the property is also the applicant's or recipient's residence or is on the same legally described piece of real property upon which the applicant's residence is situated.(d) The following distributions received by an Alaska Native or descendant of an Alaska Native from a Native corporation formed under 43 U.S.C. 1601 - 1629 h (Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act) are exempt resources: (1) cash, including cash dividends on stock or bonds, received by the individual from the Native corporation before February 3, 1988;(2) cash, including cash dividends on stock or bonds, received by the individual from the Native corporation on or after February 3, 1988, to the extent that it does not, in the aggregate, exceed $2,000 per individual each year; if that $2,000 limit is exceeded, the amount of the excess is a nonexempt resource;(3) stock issued or distributed by a Native corporation, including stock issued as a dividend or an amount paid in the form of stock;(4) a partnership interest;(5) land or an interest in land, including land or an interest in land received from a Native corporation as a dividend or distribution on stock;(6) an interest in a settlement trust.(e) Payments made to or held in trust for a member of an Indian tribe under 25 U.S.C. 117 a - 117c, 459 - 459e, 1261, and 1401 - 1408, and purchases made with that money, are exempt resources.(f) Land that is classified as "Native Restricted Deed" and that cannot be sold without approval of the United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, or land that may not have the same classification but that has substantially similar title restrictions, is an exempt resource. Any house permanently attached to Native restricted deed land is an exempt resource even if the house is not used as the applicant or recipient's home.(g) Personal effects and household goods that are essential to day-to-day living are exempt resources.(h) Tools, light machinery, and farm machinery necessary to produce income are exempt resources.(i) Stock and inventory necessary to produce self-employment income, including fish nets, traps, motor vehicles, transferable limited entry fishing permits issued under AS 16.43 (Regulation of Entry into Alaska Commercial Fisheries), and handicrafts on consignment for sale, are exempt resources if they are actually producing gross self-employment income as defined in 7 AAC 100.172, or would be producing income except for temporary factors beyond the applicant's or recipient's control.(j) Unless otherwise exempt under this section, real property is an exempt resource if the applicant or recipient is making a good faith effort to sell the property. For purposes of this subsection, the department will consider an applicant or recipient to be making a good faith effort to sell property if the property is actually being offered for sale on a continuous basis by being listed with a real estate broker or other licensed real estate salesperson or, if offered privately, by being advertised in the local newspaper at least once a month. A visible "for sale" sign must be posted on the property. The property must be offered at a price that is not greater than the prices for similar properties in the area.(k) An ATAP retroactive corrective payment under 7 AAC 45.405, or a retroactive corrective payment from a Native family assistance program under AS 47.27.200 or regional public assistance program under AS 47.27.300, is an exempt resource in the month that it is received.(l) A trust is an exempt resource to the trust beneficiary who is included in a household if that trust was established by an individual who is not included in the household and the trust prohibits distribution to the beneficiary for basic living expenses. An applicant must provide the department with a copy of the trust. The department will determine if the property of the trust or its income is an exempt resource under this section. For a trust for which the department determines that trust property or trust income is a nonexempt resource, the applicant must provide a copy of any related documents necessary to determine the net worth of that trust. If an individual who has the power to terminate or modify a trust agrees to terminate or modify the trust and release the property or the balance of the trust to the caretaker relative, the relative's spouse, or to the child receiving Family Medicaid benefits, the trust property and trust income are nonexempt resources.(m) A motor vehicle is an exempt resource if it is used (1) for household transportation necessary to meet the basic needs of anyone living in the home, including obtaining food, medical care, and other essentials;(2) to transport anyone living in the home to or from school, work, or training;(3) to transport anyone living in the home to or from a work activity approved by the department;(4) to transport anyone with a disability who is living in the home;(5) to produce self-employment income; or(6) as the household's home.(n) Household goods and personal effects that are essential to daily living are exempt resources. Household goods and personal effects that are nonessential luxury items are nonexempt resources if the equity value of that luxury item exceeds $1,000. The following items are exempt resources regardless of value: (1) an entertainment device, personal apparel, a rare-metal service item regularly used by the family, and a religious article;(2) a decorative object of art, if the object(A) was made by a person whose relationship to the applicant or recipient would qualify that person as a caretaker relative if that person were actually providing care and control of the dependent child; or(B) has an important cultural significance to the applicant's or recipient's tribe, clan, village, ethnic group, or racial community, and the applicant or recipient is not free to dispose of the item without suffering personal or social consequences for violating rules or unwritten traditions of the tribe, clan, village, ethnic group, or racial community.(o) One burial plot for each individual included in the household is an exempt resource, regardless of location, salability, or equity value. The equity value of a funeral agreement for an individual included in the household, up to a limit of $1,500, is an exempt resource.(p) The department will consider as an exempt resource all or part of the cash on hand or in an account held in whole or in part by an applicant or recipient, if the applicant or recipient demonstrates to the department's satisfaction that the money belongs to another person for whom the applicant or recipient is an agent, trustee, payee, full guardian or conservator, and that the money is not being used for the support of the household. If the applicant or recipient cannot demonstrate to the department's satisfaction that the money is not available to the household, the department will give written notice that the applicant or recipient has 30 days to modify or end the terms of the agency, trust, payee agreement, guardianship, or conservatorship before the department will consider the money a nonexempt resource. A bank account jointly owned by an applicant or recipient and by another person that does not meet the requirements for exemption under this subsection is a nonexempt resource if the applicant or recipient can withdraw money from that account without the consent of the other person and can use the money for any purpose without incurring liability to the other person.(q) Cash on hand or in an account is an exempt resource if it was received as (1) an educational, personal, commercial, or other loan for which the borrower has an obligation, and expresses intent, to repay;(2) federal major disaster and emergency assistance under 42 U.S.C. 5121 - 5206 (Disaster Relief Act of 1974), and comparable disaster assistance provided by the state, a local government, or a disaster assistance organization;(3) a restitution payment made to Aleuts or individuals of Japanese ancestry under 50 U.S.C. App. 1989 - 1989d;(4) income earned from participation in a youth activity operated under 29 U.S.C. 2854 (sec. 129 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998); or(5) a cash distribution exempt under (d) or (e) of this section.(r) Compensation paid under AS 18.67 or a similar program established by another state or by the federal government to aid a victim of a violent crime is an exempt resource.(s) Money held in a publicly or privately funded individual development account that meets the requirements of 42 U.S.C. 604(h) (sec. 404(h) of the Social Security Act), including interest earned is an exempt resource.(t) In this section, (1) "burial plot" includes (A) a parcel of ground located in a cemetery and suitable for the burial of one person;(B) a vault in a mausoleum;(C) a one-person mausoleum or crypt;(D) a niche in a columbarium or a cinerarium; and(E) any markers and maintenance that are conveyed as a natural benefit of ownership;(2) "funeral agreement" means a legally binding written agreement between a member of a household and a provider of funeral, burial, or cremation services and goods that provides for prepayment of services; "funeral agreement" includes an agreement called a burial contract, burial trust, or funeral trust;(3) "residence" means an inhabitable structure permanently affixed to or situated on land; "residence" includes (A) a mobile home, a motor home, and a travel trailer; and(B) a companion structure, including a garage, a tool shed, an outhouse, and a lean-to.Eff. 7/20/2007, Register 183Authority:AS 47.05.010
AS 47.07.020
AS 47.07.040